Stainless steel or oak?

Welcome to the adventures of a novice wine buyer/ wine seller.

I am a grad student who just started working for a small, urban wine shop that is (as of now) under construction, but we hope will be up and running in about two weeks.
Before this, wine came in two categories: "oh, jeez that's bad. Hand me the ice." and "hey, that's not bad! How much did you say this was?" Alright, I'm exagerating, but not by much. I do remember the glass of wine that took me from not liking wine to liking wine: Dr. Konstantine Frank Reisling (at Romeo and Juliet's on Hertel), which is made right here in upstate NY--lucky us! Since then I've had a soft spot for the spine- tingling, green, racy, mineral finish of a good Reisling, but as someone who regularly attends art openings, I've also drunk quite a bit of plonk. The homework for this job has not been a chore. I've been keeping a tasting journal and I've tried quite a few things I've never tried before- most fall on the "keeper" side.
So, after I started with the store, I raced to the library and got some background material:
- A Very Good Year (the 2002 Ferrari- Carrano Fume Blanc story).
- The Billionaire's Vinegar (the 1798 Chateau Latour Thomas Jefferson Bottle story)
- Hip Tastes (modern girls' guide to wines and wine pairings)
-Windows on the World Wine Course (it's great, but it will make you kind of want to cry it's so detailed and overwhelming for the novice)
- How Geography affects wine (very, very, very dry. I would recommend this only to geography buffs)
-Everyday Drinking (still unopened, I'll let you know)

My boss was kind enough to send me links to Wine Spectator, where they have a quiz that I've become addicted to: What am I drinking? Essentially, they give you the tasting note and you have to guess the type of grape (varietal), the DOC or VAC, the country, and the vintage (within a few years). They do give you pull down menus, and you can "cheat" by looking at the DOCs and VACs first (if they're all in france, for example, you know you're not looking at a Napa Valley chardonny.) but it's delightfully challenging. I average a 65% success rate (3 or 4 out of 4), due to a combination of triva mind, and test taking skills.

In essence, I began this blog for myself, my coworkers, and my customers, as well as other wine buyers and sellers who are, like me, just starting. Those in the know say vines take about 30 years to produce the first good harvest...let's hope that's not true for oneophiles as well.